


Love is Perspective

by yukikija



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bisexual Hinata Shouyou, Bisexual Yamaguchi Tadashi, Bullying, Car Accidents, Empath, I Need Help With Tagging, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Mythology - Freeform, No Smut, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, asexual tsukishima kei, but modern, graphic violence is only in chapter 2, help me tag, hinayama is cute, i love yamaguchi tadashi, lots of car accidents, no details in gore or anything, no one dies in this fic, tsukki's asexual, tsukkiyama is there but not romantic, yamaguchi tadashi's bullies - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 15:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10282247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukikija/pseuds/yukikija
Summary: AU where: Yamaguchi is a bakeneko raised by an inugami, Hinata is the grandson of Amaterasu, and they both go to Karasuno High School.





	1. Hinata Shouyou -- Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamtowns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamtowns/gifts).



> For Sammie [drxmingstxrs.tumblr.com (wth does the link not work anymore why must the universe hate me)]  
> A Hinata Shouyou x Yamaguchi Tadashi pairing. :) The purest ship you'll ever lay your eyes on.
> 
> Tsukishima x Yamaguchi is my OTP (I'm tsukkiyama trash as you can see in my bookmarks), so you'll see their moments a lot, but it's going to be platonic, I promise.  
> It's like, brotp in this. So yeah. Don't yell at me. It's going to be a major motivator tho (i.e. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)
> 
> Hinata x Yamaguchi will be canon here. :D
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

_ It’s almost high school _ , Hinata Shouyou thinks giddily as he rides his bike. When he gets home, he pulls out a piece of paper and starts writing a list.

 

Shouyou likes writing lists; he doesn’t really know why he does, but he writes one list a day. Today’s list was going to be on what makes him different.

 

_ 10 things that make me different from everyone else! _

 

__ 1\. Orange hair! _ _

 

 

This was easy -- Shouyou had bright orange hair. It was natural, courtesy of being the grandson of a sun goddess.

 

__ 2\. Empath! _ _

 

 

Both he and Natsu, his little sister, could feel emotions radiating from other people. This made him the first human lie detector; unless the person really felt as though the lie was the truth. Sometimes, people can bury their emotions far back enough that he couldn’t detect it.

 

__ 3\. Bisexual! _ _

 

 

Shouyou loved Izumin. They were childhood friends, and Shouyou thought he was gay. He confessed to Izumin when they graduated elementary school, but Izumin rejected him, saying he was sorry he couldn’t feel the same way. Shouyou was heartbroken, but Izumin didn’t treat him any differently after that, which was something that Shouyou fell in love with him for. After they went to middle school and joined the volleyball ‘team’, he fell in love with Suzumeda Aya. Her gentle mannerisms drawed him in, and she was nice to him throughout the whole three years he’s known her for. However, she was probably the most popular girl and considered sexy as well. She dated someone from another school in her third year.

 

Damn. Shouyou hoped he had a better love life in high school.

 

__ 4\. Best parents in the world! _ _

 

 

His father, son of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, died before Natsu was born. Shouyou was six years old. His mother came back crying, and told Shouyou that his father wasn’t coming back because of a car accident. 

 

Shouyou hadn’t quite grasped the concept of death, but his heart lurched at the words ‘not coming back.’

 

He cried.

 

His mother worked very hard after Natsu was born, taking many different jobs. Shouyou had taken care of Natsu because of that.

 

Shouyou’s mother began to see someone when Shouyou was ten, and when Natsu turned four.

 

Shouyou at first hated his ‘new father’; it felt wrong to replace someone as great as their ‘actual father.’ Gradually, however, he warmed up to his new father. He saw how he supported Natsu and his mother (though he and the new father had some difficulties involving egg whites).

 

He thinks he is blessed with the best parents ever.

 

__ 5\. Grandson of Amaterasu! _ _

 

 

He knows that technically, he’s the grandson of Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi. But, immortal sex was different, apparently. Amaterasu was the one who gave birth to twins, but one of them was basically a carbon copy of Amaterasu if she were a boy, and the other was a carbon copy of Tsukiyomi if he were a girl. Basically, both of them had 100% DNA of one parent, with the opposite sex.

 

Immortal sex must be amazing.

 

__ 6\. Can eat cold things without getting brain freeze! _ _

 

 

This was probably the consequence of being the grandson of a sun goddess.

 

__ 7\. I can jump really, really high! _ _

 

 

This was probably the only reason why he remained absolutely  _ amazing _ at volleyball, plus his superb skills.  


 

__ 8\. Short _ _

 

 

This one wasn’t something he was quite proud of.

 

Nothing to talk about here.

 

__ 9\. Likes egg yolk better than white! _ _

 

 

His new father is not human.

 

He’s mortal, but HE’S NOT HUMAN.

 

Who likes egg whites better than the yolk?

 

__ 10\. Best little sister in the world! _ _

 

 

Natsu was his princess.

 

A lot of boys in his class always complained about their siblings. And if Shouyou were to be honest, there were probably times when handling Natsu became a bit too much. However, he was biased.

 

Natsu was the best sister in the WORLD.

  
  
  


Shouyou smiles at his finished list. He doesn’t know why it makes him so happy, but it does.

 

A squawk filled in the room. Shouyou looked up to see the open window, with a crow perched upon it.

 

Scratch that. A jerk sat on his window ledge.

 

“Hey Shouyou! I see you haven’t grown any taller!”

 

Shouyou pouts. “Shut up, mutant crow.”

 

Yatagarasu squawks loudly. “Having three legs is better than two!” He flexed his three legs as if to demonstrate how useful they were.

 

Shouyou snorts. “Well, being short has their advantages too. What brings you here?”

 

“Just seeing the grandson of Amaterasu.”

 

“M’kay then, leave me alone.”

 

Yatagarasu squawks again. “She’d like to know how you’re doing!”

 

“I’m was doing great until you came along! I’ve got better things to do!” Shouyou yelled, gesturing at his list and grabbing a nearby broomstick to shoo the crow off. However, this only served to make Yatagarasu angry.

 

“Well, ex-cuse me for doing my job!” Yatagarasu screeches, who grabs Shouyou’s list. 

 

“Hey!” Shouyou screams. He tries to reach for the list, but fails. Yatagarasu already flew out the window. “Where are you going?”

 

“I’m going to send this far away, so that you’d never see it again!” Yatagarasu screams, muffled by the list. 

 

Shouyou watches Yatagarasu shrink in the horizon. He sighs, then groans.

 

Hopefully, his high school life would be better than the boring life he lived now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr: wakan-nai.tumblr.com
> 
> In case you wanted to talk about things that don't have to do with LiP.


	2. Yamaguchi Tadashi -- Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I listened to this while writing for this Tsukkiyams (PLATONIC) chapter. You might want to listen to it alone though, because we all know how judgmental people are when they see anime on your screen.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pn3kqFejEc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi's story has so much more detail lol. It's because Yamaguchi is a character I can write more easily. I can't write Hinata at all because he ends up OOC (I'm not a natural extrovert soooooo). :T Trying my best here.
> 
> Well, Yamaguchi still ends up ooc no matter what I do. Don't hand me your characters; they become ooc. :D
> 
> Sorry Furudate-san, your characters you rightfully own are being corrupted my hands.

1.

 

_Bakeneko._

 

The first time Yamaguchi Tadashi heard about it, it was a term that was used to describe his ‘condition’. A bakeneko is a cat youkai, a cat that shapeshifts into a human. At least, that’s the information he managed to grab from what the inugami, his guardian, told him (‘dog god’ was the phrase his guardian preferred. Tadashi, unfortunately, does not understand English, nor the really bad joke).

 

He remembers his life before meeting the inugami. How his mother took care of him, teaching him important lessons on catching his own food and forcibly matting his dark brown fur down, because his fur was messier than his brothers. He remembers how as a kitten, he saw a cicada on a tree. Naturally curious, he climbed the tree for closer inspection. He remembers climbing further up the tree as he followed the cicada. The cicada flew off to a branch, and the young kitten followed it. He watched it with his dark amber eyes, his small tail high up in the air, flicking left and right. He then pounced, right before the cicada flew off straight into the air. He felt himself flailing, trying to reach out for a branch, but his arms were too short.

 

He fell to the ground with a dull thud, the sick sound reverberating through the air. He remembered how painful it was. He let out a pitiful meow, before being enveloped in a warm but wet embrace. He felt confused, but his pain was fading and that was all that mattered. He felt the warmth fading that left the kitten shivering and wet, wondering what happened. He shakily stands up, and was surprised at the fact that he could didn’t feel hurt. He heard his mother meow and, although shaken, managed to run towards her.

 

He doesn’t think too much about it. However, he doesn’t think about climbing trees for a while.

 

2.

 

Only a few days have passed since the mysterious fall. He was lost.

 

One second he was chasing a butterfly, the next second his mother was nowhere to be seen. While he searched for his mother, he met a black feathered creature.

 

“What are you?” the kitten marveled as he watched an eye peek out of the ruffle of feathers. It looks like a crow, but…

 

“I’m a crow,” the thing scoffs.

 

“Why do you have three legs?”

 

Indeed, the crow looked pretty much like the average crow, except for the fact that it had three legs instead of two.

 

The crow squawks indignantly. “The more, the better!”

 

The crow and the kitten became friends. The kitten learns that its name is Yatagarasu. Everything was merry, except for the fact that the kitten would die soon if he couldn’t find food.

 

One day, the kitten spotted a discarded chicken leg. He snatched it greedily and was about to eat it when he heard wings flap behind him.

 

“Hey! You found some chicken! Can I have some?” Yatagarasu squawked.

 

He looks at the leg, then looks at Yatagarasu. He could fight him, but he would end up losing, especially in this state. He would either die being beaten up, or die starving. However, he might be able to find some food somewhere else.

 

“Sure,” the kitten mumbles. He nudges the bone towards the crow, which the crow happily eats. The kitten watches hungrily.

 

“I won’t forget this,” Yatagarasu beams, then takes off, leaving a clean piece of chicken bone behind.

 

The kitten curls up and wails. After a while he stands up, but he can’t find anything to eat. He felt his consciousness ebb away, before collapsing.

 

Surprisingly, something warm and wet embraces him yet again.

 

 _Oh, it’s the same thing that happened when I fell out of the tree,_ he thinks. _Wonder what it is._

 

Those were his last thoughts as his mind went blank.

 

3.

 

He wakes up next to his mother.

 

Startled, he watches her and his brothers sleeping. Moonlight was streaming through the trees, in a place that definitely was not the alleyway where Yatagarasu was.

 

He was confused. He was still hungry, so he wandered out and ate something that smelled like food -- mushrooms, his mother mentioned before -- before going back to his mother’s side, curling up.

 

He feels another warm and wet embrace, but before long he’s sleeping again.

 

4.

 

He remembers his family walking through the streets where humans reside. As he trailed behind, looking for alleyways that Yatagarasu may have been, he felt himself being lifted in the air.

 

He struggled, kicking and yowling. There were murmurs before he felt himself being scratched under the chin. He immediately purred and went limp. He was put back on the ground.

 

He looked up and saw a human. He heard a popping sound before the human crouched and offered him something that smelled like fish. He sniffed it, before licking it and eating it. The human gave a laugh and scratched his chin, before standing back up again and leaving him. He rejoined his mother and brothers, who had been watching him, and took off.

 

That night, when he slept again, he felt another warm and wet embrace. Although he was now used to it, he wondered what it was before feeling his eyelids droop.

 

5.

 

He remembers his mother walking across the grey landscape, only to be hit by something faster and bigger than his mother. Bigger is an underestimation; it was bigger than humans. For some reason, it didn’t stop to devour his mother; just kept running away, getting smaller and smaller in the horizon. He remembers how he crept up to his mother, mewling. He remembers all the blood. He tried to lick her wounds along with his brothers, who gave up and left after their mother gave no response. He remembers how lonely it was, just sitting there quietly, just in case his mother awoke. He sat there for a long time, he remembers.

 

Then, a large creature, unlike any creature he’s seen before, had approached him. The creature was as large as a human and walked like a human, therefore the kitten supposed it was human. However, as it came close, the creature smelled of dog. It also looked like a dog; furry face, hands, and feet. The kitten had eyed it warily, hissing when the creature came too close. The creature paid him no mind and picked up his mother in its hairy hands. This sent the kitten to launch onto the creature, panicking at the thought of his mother being taken away by him by something unknown. But his grip had slipped; he scrabbled a hold on the creature, but something was wrong. He couldn’t function properly, his head was spinning, his body felt sluggish. The creature spared him a glance while the kitten struggled with his futile attempts to get his mother back until he lost consciousness. The last thing he remembers another warm and wet embrace that he would have found comforting under normal circumstances.

 

However, he woke up with his mother gone. All because he couldn’t fight the creature properly.

 

He wails.

 

6.

 

He doesn’t eat.

 

He remembers the last time his mother died, he didn’t eat in case his mother was gone by the time he comes back.

 

His mother was gone and hadn’t come back, but he still doesn’t eat.

 

Instead, he sleeps. He hopes he never wakes up.

 

7.

 

He wakes up.

 

Next to Yatagarasu.

 

He gives a yelp and scoots away as fast as he can. However, his movements are sluggish and slow due to the fact that he hasn’t eaten in so long.

 

Yatagarasu wakes up too, looking at the kitten in surprise.

 

“What are you doing here?” Yatagarasu hisses.

 

“What’s wrong, Yatagarasu?” Another voice echoed through the dark alleyway, lit by moonlight. The kitten shivers involuntarily; what _is_ he doing here? It was nowhere close to where his mother died.

 

Yatagarasu’s beady black eyes regards the kitten, before turning his head in the direction where the voice came from. “Nothing. Go back to sleep.”

 

He hears grumbles before the night went back to silence. Yatagarasu whips his head back to the kitten, taking a few steps into his space. The kitten cowered.

 

“Crows can eat cats, you know. Especially you; you’re still a kitten. Go straight from here, and then take a left. You’ll be fine if you’re quiet.”

 

“What’s going on here? Is that food?”

 

A crow materialises behind Yatagarasu. He sees Yatagarasu stiffen.

 

“He’s my food. I found him first,” Yatagarasu squawks towards the other crow. “Leave him alone.”

 

As soon as Yatagarasu said this, however, a louder squawk sounded the air.

 

“Too late,” the mystery crow says airily. He lunges towards the kitten.

 

He hears someone caw a “Run!” as he sprints straight, veering for a left turn. He remembers that he hoped he didn’t wake up, hoping he died in his sleep. However, as he heard the black wings beat through the air, he realized that he did not want to die.

 

He ran for his life, but a crow had managed to grab him.

 

He went limp.

 

He wakes up, shaken, back at where his mother died. He wonders if it were a dream, but it felt all too real to be one.

 

He starts to eat.

 

8.

 

He remembers getting hit, pain flooding him everywhere. The vehicle - he realizes now, he didn’t know what it was then - never stopped. It hurt, it hurt, it _hurt_.

 

 _Mother told me about this,_ he thinks absentmindedly. _She warned me about those shiny things. This was grandma died, how her brother died, how mother died. I’m joining them, I guess._

 

He feels his pain ebbing away, his consciousness slowly fading. He felt a warm, wet embrace again. However, unlike the other times, he felt his tongue being pulled out. _Human hands_ , he thinks absentmindedly, reminded of the time the human gave him fish. He then tastes something familiar.

 

It wasn’t fish.

 

It tasted like blood. However, the blood he is being forced upon now is different from the blood he has tasted in the past. The kitten doesn’t really care. He licks it, before finally losing consciousness.

 

9.

 

He wakes up, feeling cold. He yawns.

 

 _I’m not dead,_ he thinks. _How am I not dead?_

 

He arches his back before his eyes landed on his paws.

 

There weren’t any paws in his line of vision. He saw something else, instead.

 

He stared at them in wonder. There were human hands in front of him.

 

There was something navy blue that was surrounding him as well, keeping him warm. He sniffs it; it smells human.

 

“Hello,” a voice calls out. His head whips at the voice, surprised.

 

He sees a human watching him, with a wide yet gentle smile. He had small brown spots residing around his cheeks and nasal bridge. This human made the kitten feel uneasy. He looked like a human, but every other sense within the kitten made him scream that he was anything _but._ It reminded him of the thing that has taken his mother, but this human seemed to be...different. The kitten continues to stare at the being before it starts talking.

 

“What’s your name? I’ll answer your questions after you tell me.”

 

The kitten stares at the human incredulously. The human wasn’t speaking human, he was speaking...animal. “We don’t have names,” he attempted to meow, but his meow sounded different. However, the human seemed to understand.

 

“Sorry, I forgot. Hold on, I’ll give you one.”

 

The human scribbles on paper for a while. “Yamaguchi Tadashi. That’s your human name, remember that.”

 

Tadashi tilts his head. “What?”

 

“Yamaguchi Prefecture is my birthplace, Tadashi is derived from my friend Hachiko. Your name is Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

 

“No, no, I mean...what do you mean by _human_ name?” Tadashi asks, looking up from the hands. He looked into the eyes of the creature, and was startled to see light brown eyes, light enough to look golden in the moonlight.

 

“My human name is...Yamaguchi Akira. I saved you multiple times, but the only way to save your life was to turn you into a human. Sorry about that.”

 

10.

 

Tadashi is used to living in the shrine by now. He usually shifts back into a cat at the shrine, not wanting to be seen as ‘the boy who hangs out at the shrine’. It was also a lot easier to catch food in his original cat form, unlike when he was a human boy where he had to be reduced to begging.

 

Akira is always at work, so he lives with Akira’s half-brothers, who were komainus. The one with their mouth shut in a line was Haku, the one with their mouth open in wonder was Ken. Sometimes they were mean, but they always offered safety, so Tadashi couldn’t really complain. One thing that he looks forward to was Akira, who always visits him every 8th day of the month, so Tadashi would have at least some constant interaction with another person. He always bought Tadashi fries every visit, and left money for Tadashi to use throughout the month since Akira couldn’t always keep an eye on him.

 

Akira had registered him at a school. Akira told him countless times that he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone he was a bakeneko, which Tadashi doesn’t know why (he asked, but Akira said stuff he couldn’t understand). He isn’t exactly sure what ‘kindergarten’ is, but apparently everyone there speaks Japanese, so Tadashi would have to learn to speak Japanese at the shrine rather than animal. Tadashi learned fast and was able to speak to other humans, but that didn’t stop him from meowing fluently to the cats he encountered frequently, and have proper conversations with the pigeons at the shrine.

 

However, as he started kindergarten, the friends he made picked on him. Haruto, Riku, and Itsuki teased him about the fact that he doesn’t eat much, the fact that he has freckles, the fact that he cries a lot, and so much more. He knows that what the boys are doing is _wrong_ , but he doesn’t know how he can prove that. One day, Itsuki made fun of the fact that he only has a father. This caused anger to flare within Tadashi, and he punches Itsuki square in the face.

 

This resulted in Tadashi getting beat up; Haruto using a nearby broomstick and hitting Tadashi, Riku using his bag and swing it back and forth, Itsuki himself nursing his nose and shouting at Tadashi. The teachers found Tadashi screaming, crying, grabbing their collars, and shoving them around, whereas the boys were yelling over his voice with insults and kicking him.

 

The teachers called their parents, asking them to pick the boys up. Akira greeted Tadashi just outside the school, his face devoid of his usual smile. Tadashi doesn’t remember the last time Akira showing up as his school, since he always walked home alone back to the shrine.

 

“Come on, Tadashi,” Akira says, before turning around to walk out. Tadashi hesitates before running up to him, grabbing his hand. He felt Akira stiffen before relaxing, squeezing his hand back.

 

Akira stops by at McDonalds to buy some fries, then gives it to Tadashi, who sorts the crispy ones, normal ones, and the floppy ones in separate napkins. When they get to the shrine, Tadashi is nervously chewing on the soggy french fries, waiting for the impending doom of Akira’s wrath.

 

Akira first takes the crispy french fries before handing the normal ones to Ken and Haku. Then he sat on the stairs before breathing loudly out his nose.

 

“Tadashi, I heard what happened.”

 

Tadashi quietly sat down next to him and juts his lower lip out.

 

“Itsuki started it.” The wind blew and ruffled his hair. Tadashi shivers. “They said it was weird that I only had a dad.”

 

Akira quietly sighs, before pulling out another crispy fry and chewing on it, contemplating. Even from this angle, Tadashi can see that Akira has changed; he looks tired and had wrinkles on his forehead.

 

“Tadashi, you know what you are, right?”

 

Tadashi blinks. He’s not entirely sure how to answer that. “...a human.”

 

Akira nods, pulling out another fry and rolling it between his fingers. “A bakeneko,” he states. He stares at the french fry that was now in two. “You’re an animal that can turn into a human, Tadashi.”

 

Tadashi huffs. “I know that.”

 

Akira turns to face him, with the eyes that never changed: light brown, like caramel. “Tadashi, you’re an animal. When an animal is angry, it fights. It can’t use words, nor communicate; it uses instinct. When you punched Itsuki, you were back to being an animal. But Tadashi...you’re using your human form at school. You have to act civilized.”

 

Tadashi stares right back at him. “What does it mean to be civilized?”

 

Akira hums, breaking eye contact as he trained his caramel gaze onto the starry sky. “It means to be patient. To endure. To be tolerant. To have self control.” Akira closes his eyes. “I know you’re strong, Tadashi. You can’t let their words get to you. Even if they hurt you, don’t hurt them; you’ll only stoop down to their level.”

 

Tadashi’s own gaze drops to the ground as he scuffs the pavement with his sneakers. “Okay, Akira,” he says.

 

He hated school. It was miserable.

 

\--

 

Everyday, he felt humiliation that made him feel embarrassed and ashamed. Every day, the boys ‘let’ Tadashi hang out with him. They were friends, after all. They called each other by their first names, and laughed a lot. Except for Tadashi.

 

Tadashi was always crying on his way back from school.

 

He was eight when he met Tsukishima Kei.

 

“Tadashi’s face is all pimply!”

 

“Why’re you so scrawny?”

 

“You’re gonna be useless if you don’t get some muscle, so you’re on backpack duty!”

 

Tadashi was trying not to cry, as usual. However, today they made him backpack duty: Tadashi holding onto the other boys’ backpacks while the boys play so that the backpacks wouldn’t get dirty. It was strange that it was always Tadashi on duty, but it was futile to attempt to push it onto the others. They always shut him down with words, words that Tadashi only learned four years into his life. He couldn’t fight back.

 

Tadashi’s throat is closing up. He can’t hold back his tears. Akira said he was strong; he was _supposed_ to be strong. But all Tadashi wanted was to punch them, to scream at them, to fight them with all his strength. He can’t do it, because Akira said that Tadashi needs to be strong enough to let them say whatever they want.

 

He can’t _do_ anything about his situation. He lets his tears fall.

 

“Look, he’s crying!”

 

“He’s such a crybaby!”

 

He can’t say anything back, so he tries to focus on not listening to the grating voices of the boys. _You’re strong, Tadashi, you’re strong._ He wants to tell them this, but they would just laugh at his face and say things that were worse.

 

He hears the crunching of sand. Then he sees him.

 

He sees a boy, far taller and more frightening-looking than his bullies. He had blond hair and glasses, looking down at Tadashi and his circle of ‘friends’.

 

His friends notice that Tadashi was looking past them, and they turn to look at the newcomer.

 

“What’re you looking at!”

 

“Hey, isn’t he a sixth grader?” someone hisses.

 

“As if! He’s that guy in class 3!”

 

The boy continues to peer at Tadashi through his glasses for a while, light eyes seeming apathetic. Then:

 

“Lame,” the boy says in a condescending manner, lips drawn in a cruel and smug smirk. The boy then starts to walk away, leaving the boys including Tadashi (for the first time) bewildered.

 

“The...the heck!” Haruto then moves to run after the boy, reaching for his backpack. “Hold it!”

 

The boy turns towards him, his face morphing into something that would have have made Tadashi’s instincts scream at him to _run_ , if he were on the receiving end of the glare. Instead, it made Tadashi stare in awe as Haruto flinches and sputters something incoherent.

 

“What.”

 

“Y...your glasses are lame, dummy!” Haruto shouts as he awkwardly stomps away from him, grabbing the backpacks out of Tadashi’s arms. “Let’s go, guys!”

 

Riku and Itsuki share a look before grabbing their bags as well, following Haruto as he angrily stomps away. Normally, Tadashi would have followed them, but they haven’t invited him with them, and he was still sitting in shock. He watches the mystery boy walk away until he’s out of sight.

 

He sits there, snot dribbling and tears silently streaming down his face. This time, it’s tears of happiness.

 

\--

 

He’s still thinking about the boy a few days later. The one boy who managed to stand up to three boys, three boys that Tadashi had trouble scaring off himself. Haruto, Riku, and Itsuki don’t talk to him and ignore him now, save for a laugh they share whenever they pass by him. In all honesty, Tadashi is glad that this is his relationship with his friends now, compared to his previous treatments.

 

Tadashi decides to join a sports team at his school, just to give him an excuse not to hang out alone when the day is finished. He doesn’t really have anyone to greet him back home, so he was in no rush.

 

He visited each club. He decided he doesn’t like basketball, the loud slamming of balls echoing throughout the gym making him want to curl into himself. He doesn’t like baseball, the bat reminding him of the day Haruto hit him with the broomstick. He doesn’t like soccer, with the boys pushing the other boys out of the way for the ball.

 

He decides to settle on volleyball; with everyone in their own space, he won’t have to be shoved out of the way. The beat up ball also looked softer than what the other teams used.

 

He watches the volleyball team from one of the gym doors, debating whether to go in or not. He couldn’t spot a teacher that he could talk to, and he didn’t really want to approach the kids. He dithered at the door as someone approached the door.

 

“Good afternoon,” the person says, walking past Tadashi. Tadashi jolts as he recognized the person: it was the tall, scary boy who sneered ‘Lame’ a couple of days ago. Tadashi realized he had yet to thank him, so he bowed and yelled.

 

“Thank you for the other day...!”

 

The boy gave him a bewildered look. “Have we met before?”

 

 _Yeah, I was being bullied when you pitched in to call me lame._ No way Tadashi could tell him that: He didn’t want the boy to think Tadashi was looking for his pity. So instead, Tadashi floundered and stammered until he found another topic to talk about.

 

“Oh! You’ve got some really cool sneakers! I mean, mine are just school gym shoes!” Tadashi nervously rambles, hoping it would serve a good enough distraction.

 

It seemed to work. The boy tried to mask his excitement as he explained that they were his brother’s, the ace of championship school named Karasuno. Tadashi listened with rapt as he asked questions about the boy’s brother, which the boy seemed more than happy to answer.

 

He doesn’t know how long he’s been talking to the boy, but it’s the longest conversation he’s had in his life that wasn’t one-sided.

 

“What’s your name?” the boy asks after a while.

 

Tadashi wants to bounce in happiness. “Yamaguchi Tadashi!”

 

The boy nods. “I’m Tsukishima Kei. Are you joining the volleyball club?”

 

Tadashi is positive that he’s floating. “Yes!”

 

“Follow me,” Tsukishima-kun says, walking away from him. Tadashi follows.

 

\--

 

“Are you guys friends?” someone on the team asks, pointedly looking at Tsukishima-kun rather than Tadashi. It’s a Friday night, and Tadashi and Tsukishima-kun were tossing to each other. Everyone else had gone home, but Tsukishima-kun stayed after school to practice harder, and Tadashi usually didn’t have anyone waiting at home, so he joined Tsukishima-kun’s routine.

 

So here they were, tossing to each other, when a teammate (whose mother was apparently coming late) asked them this question.

 

Something passes through Tsukishima-kun’s face as his face twists into the scowl, angrily glaring at the boy who asked. “No,” he says, slamming the ball towards Tadashi.

 

Tadashi heart plummeted to the ground. All this time, he thought Tsukishima-kun was a friend, but obviously the friendship was one-sided. As his eyes unfocused, the ball that Tsukishima-kun had slammed hurtled towards his face.

 

“Ow!” Tadashi cries out, gripping the side of his face. The ball volleyball bounces onto the gym floor, Tsukishima’s eyes widening and the boy glances furtively around the gym.

 

“I won’t tell coach, Tsukishima,” the boy shouts, running away. Tadashi’s eyes watered but he tried to hold back his tears as Tsukishima-kun rushes over to Tadashi’s side, apologizing.

 

“I’m going to the washroom to get some tissues,” Tsukishima-kun states, running out the gym. Tadashi realized his nose was starting to bleed and tilted his head upwards so the blood wouldn’t get over the floor. He hoped Tsukishima-kun wouldn’t point out his tears when he comes back: the last time he’s seen blood was when his mother got hit.

 

He heard a ‘tsk’ as Tsukishima-kun re-enters the room with a tissue box. How he managed to find a whole tissue box, Tadashi had no idea. “Don’t tilt your head upwards, the blood just goes back to your throat.”

 

Tadashi continues to cry: the way Tsukishima-kun says it makes it sound like he would die if he did that. “Sorry,” he hiccups, grabbing the tissues that Tsukishima-kun holds out for him.

 

Tsukishima-kun is silent before saying, “I’ll come back.” He picks up the volleyball before leaving the gym for the second time, with Tadashi alone. Tadashi keeps his head down and breathes loudly through his mouth. He stays like that for a while, thinking about his situation before the volleyball hit him. Were they friends? Why doesn’t Tsukishima-kun want to be friends with him? Tadashi asks this when Tsukishima-kun comes back, both of their backpacks in his hands.

 

Tsukishima-kun looks away. “It’s because you’re a human.”

 

“A h-human?” Tadashi asks. Tsukishima-kun nods, holding a hand out for Tadashi to stand.

 

Tadashi takes it. “Human?” Tadashi once again asks, reaching for his backpack. However, Tsukishima-kun frowns.

 

“I’ll hold your bag. I’m walking you home.”

 

Tadashi panics. “No, Tsukishima-kun, thank you, but I’ll be okay. My nosebleed stopped,” he says desperately, reaching for his bag again. Tsukishima-kun holds the backpack as high as he can, and Tadashi tries to jump for it -- it feels like being with Haruto, Riku, and Itsuki again. Tadashi wants to cry at the memory, but he feels too drained.

 

Tsukishima-kun frowns at his feeble attempt of a jump. “You’re tired, you’ll need help going home,” he says.

 

“We’re not friends though, so you don’t need to help me,” Tadashi cries out. This causes Tsukishima-kun’s eyes to narrow.

 

“I’m not sending you out alone, it was my fault anyway,” Tsukishima-kun replies, walking out the gym doors.

 

Tadashi is too tired to argue at this point.

 

He walks towards Tsukishima-kun, who was looking back to him patiently. He throws the tissues he’d had at his nose in a nearby trashcan and drags his feet towards the direction of his...home.

 

He doesn’t think he could get out of this mess.

 

Usually, whenever the two were alone, Tadashi is asking questions and Tsukishima-kun answered them with fervor. However, Tadashi feels like he could drop dead at this moment and couldn’t have cared less. Tsukishima-kun kept giving him glances full of concern as his pace slowed and his breaths grew ragged.

 

“This is my way home,” Tadashi says, pointing his finger at an intersection and hoped Tsukishima-kun was as tired as he was so he couldn’t argue. He was wrong.

 

Tsukishima-kun stubbornly pouted. “I’m _walking you home_ ,” he mumbles, irritated.

 

“Fine.”

 

\--

 

They were at the bottom of the steps his home, and Tadashi doesn’t know what to do. He turns to Tsukishima-kun.

 

“This is where my dad picks me up,” he says, trying to muster a smile. “Thanks for walking me, Tsukishima-kun.”

 

Tsukishima-kun’s face scrunched up. “I’ll wait until your dad comes pick you up, then.”

 

Tadashi wants to cry. Again. “Tsukishima-kun, he won’t be here until…” he gestures wildly, hoping he could manage a convincing lie. “Until it’s eight o’clock.”

 

Tadashi hopes he would leave, saying that would take long. Instead, Tsukishima-kun is staring at him.

 

“I-I meant nine o’clock!” Tadashi yells at the same time Tsukishima-kun yells, “What’s on your head?”

 

“What?” Tadashi asks, reaching for the top of his head and horrified to feel his cat ears. “ _What?!”_

 

Tsukishima-kun is backing away, and finally turns around to speeding up the stairs. “Tsukishima-kun, wait!” Tadashi yells, feeling his hands turn to paws. Panic started rising through his throat, and he tries to chase Tsukishima-kun. He tripped.

 

He realized he didn’t care anymore, lying on the steps. He felt himself shrinking in size before he closed his eyes, vision going black.

 

\--

 

He wakes up.

 

He doesn’t recognize where he is, though he was too sleep-ridden to panic about it. He arches his back and yawns.

 

“Hi.”

 

Tadashi jumps, hissing to a dark corner. He heard a sigh, and the shuffling of cloth. Tadashi apprehensively stares at the corner, when the lights suddenly turn on. He saw an angry-looking Tsukishima Kei.

 

“You’re Yamaguchi, right?”

 

“Yeah,” he responds, confused. Then he realized he meowed.

 

_He was still a cat._

 

He transforms back into a human. “Sorry Tsukishima-kun, I didn’t realize how tired I was,” Tadashi says, fiddling the sleeves of his yukata. Tsukishima-kun looks bewildered.

 

“You’re not naked,” Tsukishima-kun says. Tadashi makes a flabbergasted noise as Tsukishima-kun pinches his lips together.

 

“You collapsed on the stairs, turned into a cat, and left your clothes behind. I had to pick up your sweater, pants, underwear, and socks. How come you have a yukata on you?”

 

“Oh...uh, that’s not important, it’s hard to explain. Where am I? What happened?” Tadashi asks, glancing around the room. He was on a bed (at least he thinks it is, he’s never had one before) in an immaculate room he’s never seen before. Music covers and books lined up neatly in the shelves, with an occasional dinosaur figurine sprinkled here and there. Tsukishima looked like he wanted to argue, but withheld it.

 

“You’re in my room. I was running, but you didn’t come after me, so I went back. And there was a _cat_ sprawled over the stairs, covered in _your_ clothes. I didn’t really know what to do, so I assumed you were a bakeneko, and you turned into the cat.”

 

Tadashi’s head spins. The reason why Akira told him not to tell anyone that he was a bakeneko was because people didn’t believe they existed. “You believe in bakenekos?”

 

Tsukishima-kun pouts. “Yeah, there’s a lot of people who are bakenekos, you know. You didn’t have to _lie_ that you were human to me.”

 

“I’m wasn’t lying to you!” Tadashi says defensively. “I _am_ human!”

 

Tsukishima snorts. “You revert to your original form when you’re tired, no matter what kind of creature you are. You disguised as a human and reverted to a cat. You’re a cat, Yamaguchi, not a damn human.”

 

Tadashi blinks. He _wasn’t_ human? He was a _cat?_

 

“My mother and brother are out, so we’re the only ones in the house. I’m not good at cooking, but I’ll try. Stay here,” Tsukishima-kun says, and for the first time in his life, Tadashi hears something gentle in Tsukishima-kun’s voice.

 

11.

 

Tadashi meets Tsukishima-kun’s family on Sunday night. Tsukishima-kun was doing his homework, while Tadashi listed the questions he would ask Akira on the 8th. Akira said not to tell anyone he was a bakeneko, but according to Tsukishima-kun, there are ‘a lot of people who are bakenekos.’ Akira also said he had to turn him into a human because that was the only way he could save Tadashi. Tadashi thought that he only turned into a cat for the sake of convenience, for example, catching food.

 

Was he a cat or a human?

 

Something rang throughout the house, jolting Tadashi out of his thoughts. Tadashi looked at Tsukishima-kun, who sat up. “What was that?”

 

Tsukishima-kun laughs; a genuine laugh, not the snorts that he was used to hearing. “A doorbell,” Tsukishima-kun answers, running down the stairs. Tadashi hesitated before following him, but doesn’t go down the stairs. Instead, he watches apprehensively from the top of the stairs as Tsukishima-kun opens the door.

 

“Nii-chan! Mom!” he yells. Tadashi realizes that Tsukishima-kun is greeting his mother and brother, which makes him freeze in fear. Should he hide?

 

“I brought Yamaguchi over, nii-chan!”

 

So much for hiding.

 

Tadashi gingerly descends the stairs, and sees ‘nii-chan’ and ‘mom’.

 

Tsukishima-kun is tall. That was a fact that Tadashi lived with; if you see a tall blond person, that person was Tsukishima Kei. However, his brother was taller; taller than all the teachers at school and just a bit taller than Akira. He also had blond hair, albeit a bit more sandy, and unlike Kei he sported large, sunny grin that reminds him of Akira.

 

Tsukishima’s mother peeked from behind Tsukishima-kun’s brother’s shoulder. She had similar blond hair, but shorter in height than the brother. Her smile was smaller, but the corners of her eyes crinkled as if to compensate.

 

“Hi there! Kei’s told us a lot about you. What’s your name?” Tsukishima-kun’s mother asked kindly.

 

“Y-Yamaguchi Tadashi,” Tadashi stammers, bowing. “Sorry to intrude!”

 

Tsukishima-kun’s brother smiled. “You’re have good manners Tadashi, unlike _somebody_ I know.” Tsukishima-kun pouted at the statement. “My name’s Tsukishima Akiteru, and this is our mom. Just call her oba-san.”

 

“Mom, he’s a bakeneko,” Tsukishima-kun said, startling the two. Tadashi got ready to run, but Tsukishima-kun put a hand on Tadashi’s shoulder. “Can he live with us?”

 

“Where was he living before?” Tsukishima’s mom -- oba-san -- hummed, ushering Tsukishima’s brother inside and locking the door behind them.

 

“A shrine,” Tsukishima-kun states. “Alone.”

 

Tadashi sputters. “That’s not true, Tsukishima-kun! I have a dad: Yamaguchi Akira!”

 

Tsukishima-kun’s brother tilts his head. “I thought bakenekos don’t have fathers?”

 

“They...don’t…? ...Akira’s an inugami.”

 

Tsukishima’s brother whistles. “Wow, you’re half-dog then?”

 

“No! Akira’s just...my father.”

 

Tsukishima-kun frowns. “So he’s not biologically your father?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“He’s a dog, so he’s not actually your father.”

 

“Kei!” Tsukishima-kun’s brother chastises, lips in a firm frown. “You’re not one to talk!”

 

At this, Tsukishima-kun’s face hardened. “He _is_ my father, just a really lame one.” He then stomps up the stairs.

 

Tadashi looks at Tsukishima-kun’s brother, afraid that now Tsukishima-kun doesn’t want him, he would get kicked out. Tsukishima-kun’s brother sighed at Tsukishima-kun’s retreating back, then turns to Tadashi with an apologetic grin.

 

“Sorry you had to see that,” Tsukishima-kun’s brother said. “I agree that a bakeneko as young as you shouldn’t stay at a shrine all by yourself. You can stay here, but you’ll just have to share a room with me since Kei’s in a bad mood. Maybe share the room with him tomorrow.”

 

“Okay...Akiteru-kun,” Tadashi replies shyly. He really likes Akiteru-kun, and thinks Tsukishima-kun is lucky to have a brother like him.

 

\--

 

“Tsukishima-kun, can I give you a nickname?”

 

“I think that’s a good idea.”

 

They were walking towards school. It’s been a week since Tadashi started living in Tsukishima-kun’s house, but the first time he said ‘Tsukishima-kun’, both Tsukishima-kun and Akiteru-kun turned around to face Tadashi. Akiteru-kun got used to it after a few days, but Tadashi could still see that Akiteru-kun perks up to attention whenever he used it.

 

Yamaguchi tries to think of a good nickname. He hasn’t had much experience with them. Tsukishima-kun… “Tsukki!”

 

“Don’t shout, Yamaguchi.”

 

“Sorry Tsukishi -- Tsukki!”

 

\--

 

“Tsukki, I have to go to the shrine today.”

 

Tsukki’s eyebrows jumped, watching him carefully. “...Why?”

 

Tadashi beams at him. “Akira’s coming back today.” He glances towards his list of questions. “I…there’s a lot we need to catch up on.”

 

“Do you want us to pick you up from the shrine after you meet him?”

 

“No! Akira only comes once a month to visit me, Tsukki.”

 

“Oh. Okay,” Tsukki nodded, though looking confused.

 

“Tsukki, do you want to meet Akira?”

 

“...a bit…but not today.”

 

“Okay, Tsukki!”

 

\--

 

“Akira!”

 

Tadashi practically launched himself in the air and latched himself onto Akira, who was laughing with an ear-splitting grin.

 

“Tadashi.”

 

“Fries?”

 

Akira nods. Tadashi grips the list of questions he was going to ask Akira today. He definitely wanted answers.

 

\--

 

At the steps on the shrine, Tadashi pulled out his list and started. “Akira, I have a lot of questions to ask you. Why did you tell me that I can’t tell other people I’m a bakeneko?”

 

Akira seems unfazed, chewing on a crunchy fry. “It’s because people might not believe you.”

 

“Tsukki guessed I was a bakeneko.”

 

“Tsukki?”

 

“Tsukishima Kei! I’m living with him and his mom and his brother during the days you weren’t here! He also saved me from Haruto and Riku and Itsuki!”

 

“Tsukishima? Saved you?”

 

“Uh...Haruto and Riku and Itsuki were bullying me.”

 

“Bullying? Haruto, Riku, and Itsuki? I thought they were your friends?”

 

“I punched Itsuki in the face.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“How come you didn’t tell me they were bullying you?”

 

Tadashi’s mind reeled in a blank. “Uh...I wanted to be strong. Plus, you were away for a long time.”

 

Akira’s smile contorts into something unreadable. “Oh.”

 

“How come you told me not to tell people I’m a bakeneko? Tsukki said there’s a lot of bakenekos in Japan.”

 

“I...I’m an inugami, Tadashi. No one knows about inugamis, so I thought it was the same for bakenekos. Turns out I’m wrong…”

 

“Oh,” Tadashi nodded. So people didn’t believe in inugamis? It was true that there seemed to be more stories on bakenekos than inugamis. “Then, can you tell me how I turned into a human?”

 

Akira twists the fry between his shaky fingers. “Well...there was a boy. His...his name Ryuu. He raised me when I was a dog, before I was an inugami. He tried to commit suicide, because his parents didn’t care about him. They didn’t care about me either, and I don’t really know why they kept me, since they were the ones who brought me in...Ryuu was the only one who took care of me. But things started getting hard for him at school, boys bullying him amongst other things, so he was going to leave me.” Akira’s bit his trembling lower lip.

 

“He told me confessions, things he wanted to do, things he wished he could do. He...used the rope that was my leash to hang himself on a tree, and told me to go run as far as I can. But I didn’t. I stayed with him until his last moments. I think...I think I did the right thing. I didn’t even know he was dead, so when he was unresponsive for a long time, I bit him.” Akira drew in a deep breath, shaky hands dropping the fry as he lowered his head on them. Tadashi was shaking as well; he’s never seen Akira like this before, nor did he even know about Akira’s past before Tadashi. It was dark, to say the least; Tadashi doesn’t completely understand the story, but he knows that Ryuu had died.

 

“I bit him multiple times. There was blood, and I licked it...and that’s what transformed me into an inugami.”

 

“Human blood...makes us human?”

 

“Into youkai. I turned into a inugami, you turned into a bakeneko. We can’t...we can’t fully turn into humans.”

 

“Oh. Wait, how did I become a bakeneko?”

 

“I made you lick some of my blood when you got hit by a car.”

 

“What? I don’t get it.”

 

“I’m an inugami. When I’m a dog, I have my own dog blood coursing through me. When I’m a human, I have Ryuu’s blood through me. I turned into a human and made you lick my -- Ryuu’s -- blood. Then you transformed into a bakeneko.”

 

“So...I have Ryuu’s blood in me when I’m human?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“So...I’m Ryuu? When I’m human?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And...you’re Ryuu. When you’re human.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Tadashi blinked, finding the whole situation strange. “So, I’m looking at myself who’s older right now?”

 

“Yes. But our circumstances are different, so what you’re looking at might be different than what you look like when you’re older.”

 

“Oh.” Tadashi’s head was spinning with new information. “Akira?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Sometimes I see you as a human or a dog, but you can stay a human for a whole day, right?” Akira nods. “But I get tired super easily! I can’t be a human for a whole day! How can you do that?”

 

Akira smiles with ease this time, putting Tadashi at ease as well. “Do you know about werewolves?”

 

“Yes,” Tadashi answers, remembering all the mythology books Tadashi had read to accumulate his list of questions. “Wolves that become human-like on a full moon.”

 

“Well, inugamis are like them in respect. But the opposite.”

 

“Opposite?”

 

“Uh...we can stay in our human form or turn back into dogs whenever we want, but on a full moon we can’t stay in our human forms.”

 

“Oh!” Tadashi’s gaze swivels upwards. He marvels at the crescent moon. “You’ve never visited me on a full moon!”

 

Akira hums. After a minute’s silence, Tadashi glances at his list.

 

“Why did you save me?”

 

“Well, when dogs turn into inugamis, we’re assigned a cat whose lives we need to save. We save their lives eight times, and accompany them through their ninth.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Cats were the ones who helped us shapeshift into humans. They can take away our shapeshifting abilities whenever they want. So cats are superior to dogs spiritually and we owe them a debt.”

 

“...do you hold a grudge on cats?”

 

“Yes,” Akira says, and Tadashi stares at the ground. “Some inugamis kill the cats they’re assigned to nine times in order to be unbound from the order. Those inugamis are free afterwards. We only have to save one cat.”

 

“You don’t like me, then?” Tadashi asks in a small voice, not daring to look up at Akira.

 

There’s silence, before Akira sighs. “Tadashi, I don’t think I can ever hate you, no matter what you are.”

 

“Oh.” Tadashi says, then he says it again, happier. “Oh.” He then smiles. “I don’t think I can ever hate you too, Akira.”

 

Akira smiles softly at Tadashi, who asks, “Akira, am I human or a cat?”

 

“You’re a bakeneko.”

 

“But am I Yamaguchi Tadashi the bakeneko, or am I Ryuu the human? Or am I...” Tadashi trailed off, then meowed; the sound that his mother always used to call her children back. He hasn’t pronounced it for so long that it sent a tidal wave of emotions slamming his heart. “...the cat?”

 

Akira was silent for a while. “Well...what do you think?”

 

Tsukki said he’s a cat, Akira says he’s a bakeneko, and Tadashi thought he was human. However, what Tsukki and Akira says made sense as well. “I don’t know.”

 

Akira nods, closing his eyes. A smile still lingers on his face even when he looks tired. “Tadashi, do you mind if I ask some questions as well?”

 

“Sure!”

 

“Is...Tsukishima a good person?”

 

Tadashi tilts his head. “Yes, he’s a very good person, and his mom and brother are too.”

 

Akira gives a low chuckle. “I trust your judgement.” He seems to be contemplating on something, however. Akira sighs, then asks, “Do you know about the Tsukishima family?”

 

“Oh! They’re famous?”

 

“I guess so; in the youkai world, they definitely are.”

 

Tadashi made a confused noise, which earns a laugh from Akira. “Well, Tsukishima isn’t human.”

 

“Tsukki isn’t human?” Tadashi asks. He remembers the time Tsukki said that he couldn’t be friends with Tadashi because he was human. He hadn’t really thought about it, but now it made sense to assume that Tsukki wasn’t human.

 

Akira nods, smiling kindly. “You should ask him about it next time.”

 

Tadashi nods and yawns. “Yeah.’

 

He stands up. “Tadashi, you’re tired; go back to your cat form.”

 

Tadashi smiles; he likes the days he gets to spend with Akira. “Okay, Akira.”

 

\--

 

The next day, Akira was gone as usual. However, as Tadashi pulled on his pants, a rustling of paper got his attention. A note was left in his pocket. Curious, Tadashi pulled out the paper.

 

_Tadashi_

 

_I’ll be sending money to the Tsukishimas by crow -- I won’t be able to come back for a while. However, I am certain that I’d be able to visit you here, at the shrine, the day you graduate high school._

 

_I’m sorry. Please stay at the Tsukishimas until then._

 

_\-- Akira_

 

Tadashi re-read the note over and over. His hands were shaking as he dropped the note.

 

_Akira left._

 

\--

 

Tadashi didn’t go to school that day.

 

Instead, he went directly to the Tsukishimas after the sun set.

 

As soon as he knocked, the door swung open.

 

“Why didn’t you go to school today?” Tsukki asked, furious. Tadashi stayed silent, but pulled the note from his pocket and handed it to Tsukki wordlessly. Tsukki opened the note and read it. Twice.

 

“Come inside,” Tsukki said in a low voice. “Go to nii-chan’s room.”

 

Tadashi only nods.

 

\--

 

“Tsukki said to go to your room.”

 

Akiteru-kun looked confused, but smiled at him anyway. “Sure! Make yourself at home! There’s a few things I wanted to ask you anyway.”

 

Tadashi nestled into Akiteru-kun’s bed and closed his eyes. He could hear Tsukki yelling from downstairs. He guessed that Tsukki didn’t really want him to be here. “What do you want to ask?”

 

“How’d you meet Kei?”

 

“Uh...my friends were making fun of me. In the park. Then, Tsukki came along and called them lame.”

 

“You were being bullied?"

 

“I think so.”

 

“Oh...well, we have more in common than I thought, Tadashi!”

 

Tadashi cracked an eye open. “Were you…?”

 

Akiteru-kun nodded, smiling, but looking at the floor. “Yeah...I used to be bullied in elementary school. I joined a sports team in middle school so I wouldn’t get bullied, you know? Thought it’d make me stronger.”

 

“You’re plenty strong! You’re the ace of your team, right?”

 

What Akiteru-kun gave him was definitely a forced smile, but Tadashi didn’t question it. After all, he was talking about his experience with bullying. “Yes.”

 

Tadashi nodded into the mattress. “Did Tsukki know you were being bullied?”

 

“Yeah, I think that’s why Kei stepped in for you. Oh! Not just because of me though, it’s mostly because he’s a really good kid, like you!”

 

Tadashi smiles into the sheets. For a while, Tadashi felt funny around Akiteru-kun. It was a good kind of funny; the kind of funny you feel when you drink fizzy drinks. Tadashi loves Akiteru-kun’s wide grins with no hint of malice, loves how he always made you feel welcome, loves the pterodactyl imitation he makes whenever he steps on the fifth step on the stairs to make Tsukki laugh.

 

At this moment, he thinks he felt love towards Akiteru-kun.

 

\--

 

Tadashi was staying at the Tsukishimas house permanently, it seemed.

 

Whenever the crows delivered the money, Tadashi coaxed them to stay longer using food. He asked them where Akira was, but they said they couldn’t tell him. Upset, Tadashi told them to at least send messages back to Akira.

 

They agreed.

 

\--

 

“Tsukki,” Tadashi whispered to Tsukki, who had his headphones on. Tadashi doubted he could hear him.

 

“What,” Tsukki’s muffled reply came, which jolted Tadashi. Was he not listening to music?

 

“Umm…” Tadashi steepled his fingers. “Uh, do you have a father?”

 

There was a long silence. “Yes.”

 

Tadashi fidgeted his fingers. “What’s he like?”

 

A sigh. Then, “He’s a human. He married to my mom, the daughter of Tsukuyomi, the god of moon. He cheated and lied to her. Multiple times. They’re divorced now, but he sends money to us by obligation, since if my mom wanted to, she could kill him.”

 

“Oh.” A pause. “Sorry for asking.”

 

“S’okay.”

\--

 

“Yamaguchi.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You know that boys can’t love boys, right?”

 

Tadashi almost spat out his drink. Tsukki was looking at him intensely, with a slightly concerned look. Tadashi wonders if he said something in his sleep about Akiteru. “What makes you say that, Tsukki?”

 

“Well, you’re a cat, so it makes sense that you might not know about basic human things.”

 

“Oh, okay. You love Akiteru-kun though, so isn’t that a guy loving a guy?

 

“That’s different. You always love your family.”

 

 _So what about your father?_ Tadashi refrains from asking. “Well then, I can love you and Akiteru-kun and oba-san, right? Since we’re family?”

 

Tsukki bores into him with his golden eyes. “No.”

 

“What?”

 

“We’re not your family. We’re not related.”

 

“Then I don’t have a family?”

 

“Didn’t you have parents when you were a cat?”

 

Tadashi licks his lips. “Well...we don’t have fathers. All dads go somewhere. Mothers look after their kittens, but mine got run over. And my brothers left me alone when she died.”

 

Tsukki looks slightly uncomfortable. “Oh. Sorry.” He clears his throat nervously. “I guess we can be family until you find your brothers then.”

 

“Sure!”

 

\--

 

Tsukki invited Tadashi to go to Akiteru-kun’s game, the last game Akiteru-kun would be playing as a high-schooler. Tadashi agreed; he had no reason to refuse.

 

Akiteru-kun, it turns out, wasn’t the ace of the Karasuno Volleyball team.

 

He didn’t even get to play in the match.

 

He was in the sidelines, cheering for the team.

 

Tadashi heard Tsukki say “Lame” under his breath, before turning around to leave.

 

Tadashi doesn’t think the remark was directed towards Akiteru-kun.

 

\--

 

“Tsukki,” he whispers. Tsukki was watching Akiteru-kun cry in his room, where the door was slightly ajar. “Tsukki…”

 

Tadashi thinks his voice can never reach Tsukki at this point.

 

“Tsukki, I’ll be waiting in our room, okay?”

 

Tsukki doesn’t respond.

 

\--

 

Tadashi doesn’t talk to Akiteru-kun anymore.

 

He doesn’t blame Akiteru-kun; he doesn’t know why he should. But Akiteru-kun isn’t speaking to Tsukki, and Tsukki won’t speak to Akiteru-kun. If he had to side with one of them, he would side with Tsukki, because Tsukki was his best friend and Akiteru-kun had lied to Tsukki.

 

Tsukki is growing colder and distant. He seethes at Tadashi when he tries to make a conversation with him, but Tadashi can’t leave him alone because Tsukki was hurting, and there had to be _something_ he could do.

 

His conversations are growing more and more one-sided each day.

 

\--

 

Akiteru-kun left for college.

 

Tadashi went to say goodbye to him, along with oba-san. Tsukki doesn’t come out of his room.

 

“Bye mom,” Akiteru-kun waves, then turns to Tadashi. “Hey, Tadashi.”

 

“Hi, Akiteru-kun,” Tadashi smiles softly. He doesn’t remember the last time they spoke properly to each other. “Good luck in college.”

 

Akiteru-kun nods, then sighs. “Tadashi...I’m sorry for everything. Look after Kei for me.”

 

 _I can’t, I can’t look after him; he hates me already_. “I’ll try my best, Akiteru-kun.”

 

Akiteru-kun smiles and ruffles Tadashi’s hair. “Okay, Tadashi, I’ll see you sometime in the future, ‘kay?”

 

Tadashi smiles back. “Okay.”

 

 

12.

 

They joined the volleyball team when they started Amemaru middle school.

 

Tadashi was relieved that Tsukki is still sticking to volleyball. However, he also noticed Tsukki was extremely apathetic towards the sport.

 

In fact, he was apathetic about most things.

 

Tadashi found most days he was talking to himself, especially the days Tsukki put his headphones on when they walk to and from school.

 

\--

 

“Why are you friends with Yamaguchi?”

 

Tadashi froze in the hallway.

 

“You guys are friends right?” The unknown voice said.

 

“Yeah, we’re friends,” Tsukki’s monotonous voice rang through the empty space. Tadashi wondered if he should run.

 

“Why?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“I don’t like him at all. He’s annoying.”

 

“I guess.”

 

Tadashi ran away. He didn’t want to hear anything that came after that.

 

\--

 

On the walk back home, Tadashi decided to confront him.

 

“Tsukki, do you think I’m annoying?”

 

Tsukki looks bored. “Yeah.”

 

Tadashi tried to swallow back down the urge to burst into tears. “Why?”

 

Tsukki shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re not even family but you stay at our place. What are you, a freeloader?” Then he laughs. “Oh right, you are.”

 

 _Akira pays you._ Tadashi wonders why Tsukki’s being more vicious today, so he opts to stay silent. That doesn’t stop Tsukki from talking, however.

 

“You’re around me all the time, Yamaguchi. Of course I’d get annoyed at one point. Why do you think anyone wouldn’t? Isn’t that why you were bullied in the first place?”

 

Tadashi just kept silent on the walk back home. When they got back home, Tadashi immediately began packing his stuff and money from Akira in his backpack while Tsukki and oba-san talked downstairs.

 

He suppresses himself from crying, but hot tears trail down his face anyways. He lets them fall onto the pile of clothes he was currently stuffing into his bag.

 

\--

 

“Oba-san, I’m leaving.”

 

Tsukki and oba-san looks surprised, but oba-san was the one who spoke. “What? Tadashi, why?”

 

All emotions try to climb his throat. “I can’t stay here,” Tadashi says in a choked voice. He grits his teeth and tries not to cry. “There are...koma-inus waiting for me back at the shrine. They want me to stay since Akira’s gone.”

 

He hears a quiet snort from Tsukki. He pretends not to hear it and instead looks at oba-san’s face.

 

She looks sad, but nods. “Well, remember that you’re welcome here anytime.”

 

Tadashi nods back, and hugs her. Oba-san hugs him tightly. They part, and oba-san says, “Tadashi-kun, make sure to visit sometimes, okay?”

 

Tadashi nods, and heads to the genkan. He slipped on his shoes when he heard footsteps pad behind him. By now, he knows whose footsteps they are.

 

“Koma-inus? That’s a lame excuse,” Tsukki states, his arms crossed.

 

“They’re real, thank you very much,” Tadashi says as he ties his shoes, voice taking a hard edge. When he stands up, he looks back at Tsukki, whose face looked surprised. “Thanks for letting me stay here.”

 

Tsukki stays silent, and Tadashi opens the door and leaves the house.

 

\--

 

He goes to school, and at lunchtime, Tadashi makes his way towards Tsukki with his store-bought lunch. Tsukki looks surprised, but he clears the space, pushing things into his bag.

 

Tadashi still makes conversations, although his voice is scratchy at times when he tries not to break down. Tsukki tries to contribute to the conversation this time.

 

Tadashi thinks that it was probably Tsukki’s way of apologizing.

 

\--

 

“My house is this way. See you.”

 

“Do you want to stay over?”

 

“No thanks, Tsukki.”

 

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

 

“Bye Tsukki!”

 

\--

 

It was their third year of middle school, when they were walking home.

 

“Which high school are you going to?”

 

“Karasuno High School.”

 

Tadashi’s stomach plummets at the name ‘Karasuno,’ but doesn’t falter. “Can I go with you then?”

 

“Why does it matter? Go wherever you want.”

 

To Tadashi, the reply meant _yes._ “Sure, Tsukki!”

 

They continue walking, when Tadashi says, “Ah, my stop. See you later Tsukki!”

 

He hears Tsukki say something quietly, so he turns around. “What?”

 

“Here’s something from Akira.”

 

Tadashi jolts. “Akira? Twice in a month?”

 

Tsukki nods. “Not money. It’s a letter this time.” Tsukki holds out a piece of paper.

 

Tadashi’s fingers trembled as he grabbed a hold of the letter. “Thanks, Tsukki.”

 

“No problem. See you tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah,” Tadashi said hoarsely as he stared at the letter. “See you.”

 

He decides to open it at the shrine.

 

To say he was disappointed was an understatement.

 

The letter said, ‘10 things that make me different from everybody else!’ Tadashi read the whole thing. It said:

 

_10 things that make me different from everyone else!_

 

_1\. Orange hair!_

__2._ _ _Empath!_

 _3._ _Bisexual!_

 _4._ _Best parents in the world!_

 _5._ _Grandson of Amaterasu!_

 _6._ _Can eat cold things without getting brain freeze!_

 _7._ _I can jump really, really high!_

 _8._ _Short_

 _9._ _Likes egg yolk better than white!_

 _10._ _Best little sister in the world!_

 

 

\--

 

“Tsukki!” he fumes, grabbing Tsukki’s arm. Tsukki flinches, taking his headphones off.

 

“What.”

 

“I can’t _believe_ you.” Tadashi knows everyone’s staring by now, but continues to drag Tsukki to the men’s washroom, shooing people already in there. “Get OUT!”

 

“Yamaguchi, what--”

 

Tadashi pushes the ‘letter’ into his face. “THIS!” he screeches. “ _What_ are you _playing_ at!”

 

“Stop,” Tsukki growls, taking the letter out of Tadashi’s hand. He reads it while Tadashi yells.

 

“Tsukki, your jokes are _not funny_ . I actually thought it was _from_ Akira, okay? I thought he was actually going to _talk_ to me, not just _me_ sending messages to _him._ Your jokes hurt, Tsukki!”

 

“It’s not a joke,” Tsukki mumbles, re-reading the list. “I got this from the crows. It’s not my handwriting, see?”

 

Tsukki shows Tadashi the list, and Tadashi wipes his eyes before pulling it close to his face. Tsukki was right; it wasn’t his handwriting at all.

 

“You could have just made someone else write it,” Tadashi murmurs petulantly.

 

“You know I don’t lie.”

 

Tadashi sniffs. “I know.” Another sniff. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I g-guess the crows mixed up letters or something, they said someone else sends letters using crows too. I’m sorry Tsukki,” Tadashi babbles, trying to ignore the hot tears threatening to spill.

 

Tsukki looks uncomfortable, but manages to say “It’s okay” before pulling him into an awkward hug.

 

Tadashi buries himself in Tsukki’s arms and cries.

 

\--

 

“Sorry,” Tadashi mumbles towards Tsukki during lunch break. Tadashi had managed to dry off his tears before first period started, but they earned a few stares from classmates from Tadashi’s yelling.

 

“Stop apologizing,” Tsukki sighs, putting his stuff away and pulling out the list. “...you must have been really looking forward to a word from Akira.”

 

Tadashi bites back a ‘duh’. “I wonder who this list belongs to.”

 

“I know who it’s from. It’s from my cousin.”

 

Tadashi’s head swivels upwards. “What?”

 

“You’ll meet him in Karasuno High School. He’s a demigod, like me.”

 

Tadashi stares at the list. “You mean, this person exists?” Tsukki looks at him, puzzled. Tadashi elaborates. “Like, orange hair, empath?”

 

Tsukki snorts. “All demigods are empaths. They can also read minds too.”

 

Tadashi looks at Tsukki in horror. “Are you…”

 

“No,” Tsukki rolls his eyes. “We’re demigods. We can either be god or human at any given time. Our god mode lets us read minds and be empaths. Our human mode lets us be human. My mom had to teach us human mode though; it’s hard to be in that mode, but it’s a lot less energy-consuming. You can tell when we’re in god mode; just look at our wrists. They’d be glowing.”

 

“Oh,” Tadashi breathes. For some reason, he doesn’t like the idea of people reading his minds or emotions. “Okay. So, what’s your cousin like?”

 

Tsukki shrugs. “I haven’t met him in a while. He’s annoying.”

 

“How are you guys cousins? Mother’s side? Father’s side?”

 

Tsukki sighs. “Come over to my house if you want me to explain. I don’t want to explain it here.”

 

Tadashi blinks. He forgot they were in a classroom. “Oh yeah! Okay.”

 

\--

 

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Tadashi says, taking his shoes off.

 

There was padding of feet, and someone asks “Tadashi?”

 

Tadashi smiles. “Oba-san!”

 

“Ah, thank goodness! I was wondering when you would visit,” oba-san says, smiling. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

 

“Ah, no, it’s okay. Thank you though!”

 

“Are you sure?” oba-san’s face was probing Tadashi’s, as if she knew why he didn’t come over. He wondered if Tsukki told her what had happened.

 

“Yes,” Tadashi smiled -- a forced one, but a very convincing one. Oba-san didn’t seem convinced, however. Like Tsukki, nothing got past oba-san.

 

“Okay then,” oba-san says, and surprises Tadashi with a hug. “Long time no see.”

 

“You too,” Tadashi whispers loud enough for her to hear. She smiles, then leaves to the kitchen.

 

Tsukki had stood at the side the whole time, looking uncomfortable. “Upstairs.”

 

Tadashi nods. He runs up the stairs, making a noise at the fifth step. He doesn’t miss the way Tsukki twists his face somewhere between a scowl and a smile.

 

\--

 

“I haven’t been in this room for so long,” Tadashi comments off-handedly, watching for a reaction. Like oba-san and Tsukki, nothing got past him either when it came to Tsukki. However, Tsukki seemed to notice that Tadashi was watching for a reaction, so he doesn’t give one. Tadashi internally sighed -- of course he’d notice.

 

“So, who’s your cousin?”

 

“Let me talk.”

 

Tadashi blinks, but nods. He knows that if he interrupts, Tsukki loses his train of thought, so Tsukki tends to ramble out everything he thinks over other people. “Okay.”

 

Tsukki sits in a chair that protested with a squeak. “Okay. Don’t interrupt.”

 

_When do I ever._

 

“There was a god named Izanagi, who gave birth to three children by washing himself. I don’t know why, he just gave birth and stuff. So, he gave birth to Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo. Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were married, so they decided to have sex. Except it was god sex, so it doesn’t matter that they were siblings. But they had an argument over food, so the nine months Amaterasu had quadruplets, she made sure that all of Tsukuyomi’s DNA goes to one baby, all of Amaterasu’s DNA goes to the other, a quarter of Amaterasu’s DNA with three quarters of Tsukuyomi’s DNA goes to another, and another child with vice versa. I don’t know how she managed to move everyone’s DNA, but gods can do whatever they want.

 

“They basically had fraternal quadruplets. First was a boy with Amaterasu’s DNA, whose name is Manato. Second came a girl with Tsukuyomi’s DNA, named Isoka. And third came a girl with three quarters of Tsukuyomi’s DNA, named Madoka. The fourth child with three quarters of Amaterasu’s DNA was called Iwato. Amaterasu kept Manato and Iwato, while Tsukuyomi kept Isoka and Madoka.

 

“So, my mom’s Isoka. She fell in love with a human. Honestly I don’t know what she saw in him. She literally fell from the heavens to be with dad. That means loss of power and immortality. She didn’t care, so she fell first.

 

“Iwato fell down second. Then Manato fell. Madoka was the last to fall. So, any questions?”

 

 _Tonnes._ “Wha...so, you’re what? What?”

 

“I can only speak Japanese, Yamaguchi.”

 

Tadashi only stares at Tsukki. In all honesty, he couldn’t comprehend half of what Tsukki had said. “So...who’s the cousin who wrote this list?”

 

“Hinata Shouyou. He’s the son of Manato, grandson of Amaterasu.”

 

Tadashi looks at the list. _So this was what the grandson of Amaterasu is like._ Tadashi personally preferred egg yolk to egg white; he wonders if he could strike up a conversation with ‘Hinata.’

 

“So...you have more cousins?”

 

“Yeah. They’re all going to Karasuno, except one.”

 

“Care to name all of them?”

 

Tsukki snorts. “All of my cousins are annoying. Though, to be fair, it’s only two of them that I hate. They don’t really know of my existence either.”

 

“So you stalked them?”

 

Tsukki scowls, earning a cheeky grin from Tadashi. “Shut up, Yamaguchi. My mom’s the only one who has memories from her life in heaven, since she’s the granddaughter of Tsukuyomi. Apparently Tsukuyomi's DNA helps with memory or something. The rest don’t remember, but Iwato has a vague memory.”

 

“Sorry, Tsukki! So, who are your cousins?”

 

“Well, Iwato has a son named Yaku Morisuke. Then there’s Yachi Hitoka, daughter of Madoka. Oh, and you know the King?”

 

“King? Like, Kitagawa-Daiichi?”

 

“Yeah. Kageyama Tobio. He’s the grandson of Susanoo and Kushinadahime. Susanoo fell from the heavens to be with Kushinadahime, who was just an Earthly Deity.”

 

“Wow. I don’t even have cousins.”

 

Tsukki glares at him. “Yes, you do -- you just don’t know about them. Plus, you wouldn’t want them. Yachi-san and Yaku-san are fine, but Hinata and Kageyama gets on my nerve.”

 

“Wow,” Tadashi quietly giggles. “Okay. I still can’t wait to meet them though.”

 

Tsukki nods, looking tired. Which, Tadashi reasons, was probably because he used up a year’s worth of words.

 

“I need to get home now,” Tadashi says, smiling. “Go to sleep, Tsukki.”

 

Tsukki murmurs something inaudible, eyebrows drawn tight and eyes scrunched closed.

 

“Were you talking to me, Tsukki?” Tadashi asks, opening the door.

 

“I hope we make it to Karasuno,” Tsukki says quietly, but a little louder than before.

 

Tadashi nods. “Goodnight Tsukki. See you on Monday.”

 

He leaves Tsukishima’s place, saying his thanks to oba-san as well. He guesses that he would have to give back the list to whoever this ‘Hinata’ person was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Komainu-pair.jpg/1920px-Komainu-pair.jpg  
> Image address for what Haku and Ken are based on, and what the shrine looks like.
> 
> http://www.dangouwasa.com/entry/mac-potato this blog explains soggy fries, normal fries, and crispy fries. In order :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thing is, I don't update a lot because I prioritize school work over fics so
> 
> I might finish this over the end of summer vacation or smth. Lol :) Sorry.


End file.
